U-17 Training Camp
Training Camp The U-17 (Under 17) training camp, is a selection camp for top potentials in the Japanese tennis world. Before, only high schoolers were able to participate, but because the level of middle school tennis players has risen a lot some of them were invited as well. The camp itself is state of the art with the newest machines, high class food, luxurious dorms, etc. The coaches are professional and analyze the players through monitoring cameras and computed data of each player's profiles. The current director is absent for an unknown reason, so Yukio Kurobe serves as the temperory director. Courts Everyone is seperated by strenght from court 1 to 16. The lower the court number, the stronger the players are. Everyday, before practice there a shuffle matches, between players from different courts. To rise a court, you need to win against a ‘stronger’ opponent. But if you lose against someone ‘weaker’, you’ll drop a court. For example; if player 1 from court 7 wins against player 2 from court 6, they switch courts. Meaning, player 1 will be in court 6 and player 2 in court 7. There are also team shuffle matches. These are matches between courts. If a lower court wins from a higher court, the members will be switched. {C}For example; If court 4 wins against court 3, the members of court 4 will go to court 3 and those from court 3 will go to court 4. But if court 4 loses, nothing will happen. If a court loses, they have to wait a week before they can apply for a rematch. Players from courts 1-16 are known as the 2nd Stringers and wear white jerseys, with the exception of the Revolutionary Brigade members that wear black jerseys and take the 2nd court upon their return to the main camp. 1st Stringers are the 20 top tennis players from the camp that represent Japan for international competitions. 1st stringers wear red jerseys and have a distinctive badge they wear representing their number rankings. Drunken Coach's Mountain A mountain located on the grounds of the U-17 camp where the Drunken Coach trains eliminated players with unconventional methods such as digging holes, sleeping in caves, and stealing sake from the main camp. It is described as "the depths of hell" by Kintaro. Middle school players that survive the mountain without leaving return to the main camp are known as The Revolutionary Brigade, the name deriving from the Drunken Coach's rally with the middle school students, who he told should start a revolution. Members of the Revolutionary Brigade are known for wearing a black jersey, distinguishing them from the regular 2nd stringers who wear white. Coaches The U-17 camp features professional coaches that specify in different areas, with the exception of the Drunken Coach. While Kurobe is U-17 Camp's strategic coach, Saito is U-17 camp's mental coach and Tsuge is the candidate circuit coach. The Drunken Coach appears to be a general coach for participants of the U-17 camp that have fallen. Though they specilize in different areas, all of the coaches have proven to be strict, cunning, and sharp. *Yukio Kurobe *Itaru Saitō *Ryuuji Tsuge *Drunken Coach Participants Camp Statistics * Day 0-2* 1st string's No. 5 was temporary replaced by 3rd year middle school student, Kaji Kazena. * Tiebreak Elimination: '''** The middle schoolers split up into the white jersey 2nd stringers and the black jersey Revolutionary Brigade members, later part of the of the 2nd court (still part of the 2nd string, but differentiated by who coached them). However, 2 extra Revolutionary Brigade member joins- Zaizen Hikaru and Hitōji Yūji, who arrived at the camp to find Konjiki Koharu- making it a total of 50+2=52 middle schoolers and 173+2=175 total players. * '''3rd-5th Court Shuffle: *** There is 1 less 2nd stringer within the Middle School Division because of the departure of Kunimitsu Tezuka for Germany after his match with Yamato Yūdai. Thus, the count for the camp decreased by 1 as well, going to 174. * Foreign Expedition Group Challenge: 'When Kanata Irie replaced Akira as No. 20 the number of high school 1st stringers but both the high school 1st string count and 2nd string count stayed the same because they were both high schoolers. However, 8 1st string high school students (No. 11-19) were defeated by 8 middle schoolers (Seiichi Yukimura from the regular 1st stringers became No. 11 and 7 Revolutionary Brigade members listed below became 1st stringers No. 12-19) thus increasing the number of high school 2nd stringers by 8 and marking the 1st 8 middle school 1st stringers. The Revolutioanry Brigade number dropped by 7 from 27 to 20. The middle school number of 2nd stringers stayed constant because of Jūjirō Oni replacing 3rd year middle school student Kaji as No. 5., and in return Kaji replaced Yukimura in the middle school 2nd string. * '''U-17 Representatives VS. 2nd Stringers Player Shuffle: '**** The middle school 1st stringer count decreased by 1 after Masaharu Niō returned his No. 15 badge because he wanted to aim for a higher number- thus the 2nd Stringer Revolutionary Brigade went up by 1. It is uncertain who received the badge after Niou returned it. There is a total of 19 known 1st stringers: 11 high schooler, 1 middle schooler, & 7 Revolutionary Brigade member, or 11 High Schoolers and 8 middle schooler. * Currently, Niou and Atobe are about to have a match with high school 1st stringers that were OBs of their respective schools. They are: No. 9 Tsukimitsu Ochi , 3rd year former captain of Hyotei who led his team to the Nationals 3 years ago (1 yearprior to Atobe and co.'s arrival, thus they were not teammates), and No. 10 Juzaburō Mūri , 1st year OB of Rikkaidai that always skipped practice, thus none of the data masters, including Yanagi, have much data of them. However, he was able to crush Kenya during last year's Nationals semi final round when he was still part of the team, according to Chitose. 1st String The 1st string composes of the 20 top players from the U-17 camp that represent Japan for international competitions. They each wear a red U-17 jersey and a U-17 representation badge, thus making it a total of 20 badges. Similar to the 2nd stringers' courts, the lower the number, the stronger the player. When a 1st stringer loses a match, their badge is given to their victor. With the exception of No. 2 Shūji Tanegashima and the original No. 5 Jūjirō Oni, the 20 members of the U-17 reprentatives recently returned from abroad. '''Current 1st Stringers: Those remaining after the Foreign Expedition Group Challenge *No. 1 - Hōō Byōdōin *No. 2 - Shūji Tanegashima *No. 3 - Duke Watanabe *No. 4 - Ryoga Echizen *'No. 5 -' Kazena Kaji Jūjirō Oni (3rd year, former 3rd and 5th Court 2nd Stringer) *No. 6 - Ryūji Ōmagari *No. 7 - Ikuto Kimijima *No. 8 - Atsukyō Tōno *No. 9 - Tsukimitsu Ochi *No. 10 - Juzaburō Mūri *'No. 11 - 'Tetsuhito Fuwa Seiichi Yukimura (Rikkaidai 3rd year, Middle School 2nd Stringer) *'No. 12 -' Danji Date Takashi Kawamura (Seigaku 3rd year, Revolutionary Brigade) *'No. 13 -' Rikiya Ban Munehiro Kabaji (Hyotei 3rd year, Revolutionary Brigade) *'No. 14 - 'Izou Hakamada Kintarō Tōyama (Shitenhoji 1st year, Revolutionary Brigade) *'No. 15 -' Yūma Mutsu Masaharu Niō (Rikkaidai 3rd year, Revolutionary Brigade) BADGE RETURNED Current No. 15 is Unknown *'No. 16 - 'Yūho Mutsu Shuichiro Oishi (Segaku 3rd year, Revolutionary Brigade) *'No. 17 -' Akuto Mitsuya Yanagi Renji (Rikkaidai 3rd year, Revolutionary Brigade) *'No. 18 -' Yoshiyuki Taira Kenya Oshitari (Shitenhoji 3rd year, Revolutionary Brigade) *'No. 19 -' Tetsuya Hara Takeshi Momoshiro (Seigaku 2nd year, Revolutionary Brigade) *'No. 20 -' Akiba Kōyō Kanata Irie (3rd year, 5th and former 3rd Court 2nd Stringer) Original 1st Stringers: Those who returned from abroad, appearing in chapter 50 *No. 1 - Hōō Byōdōin (3rd year, crushed Kazuya Tokugawa last year) *No. 2 - Shūji Tanegashima (3rd year, did not participate because of hatred of travel) *No. 3 - Duke Watanabe (3rd year) *No. 4 - Ryoga Echizen (age unknown, Ryoma's older brother) *No. 5 - Kazena Kaji (Middle School 3rd year temp. replacement) *No. 6 - Ryūji Ōmagari (3rd year) *No. 7 - Ikuto Kimijima (3rd year) *No. 8 - Atsukyō Tōno (3rd year) *No. 9 - Tsukimitsu Ochi (3rd year, former Hyotei captain) *No. 10 - Juzaburō Mūri (1st year, OB of Rikkaidai, crushed Kenya Oshitari at last year's nationals) *No. 11 - Tetsuhito Fuwa (2nd year) *No. 12 - Danji Date (3rd year) *No. 13 - Rikiya Ban (3rd year) *No. 14 - Izou Hakamada (3rd year) *No. 15 - Yūma Mutsu (3rd year) *No. 16 - Yūho Mutsu (3rd year) *No. 17 - Akuto Mitsuya (2nd year, teacher of data tennis to Yanagi Renji) *No. 18 - Yoshiyuki Taira (3rd year, former Shitenhoji captain) *No. 19 - Tetsuya Hara (1st year, former Shitenhoji captain) *No. 20 - Akiba Kōyō (3rd year) 2nd String 2nd stringers include the members of court 1-16, including the middle schoolers that won the tiebreak elimination match. They participate in both player and court shuffle matches, explained above. 2nd string members wear white jerseys. 1st Court members Tokugawa and Shūji Tanegashima (No. 2 from the 1st String) are considered the strongest within the 1st stringers. Kanata Irie, originally from Court 3 and No. 20 later on, and Jūjirō Oni, originally from Court 5 and No. 5 later on, are two known players to be amongst the strongest in the camp despite not being in the 1st court. Middle school members of the 2nd string are the winners of the tiebreaker elimination match. They include: Kunimitsu Tezuka (left for Germany), Shusuke Fuji, Eiji Kikumaru, Kippei Tachibana, Akira Kamio, Hajime Mizuki, Keigo Atobe, Jirō Akutagawa, Yushi Oshitari, Chōtarō Ootori, Jin Akutsu, Kiyosumi Sengoku, Kentarō Minami, Hikaru Amane, Seiichi Yukimura, Akaya Kirihara, Bunta Marui, Yagyū Hiroshi, Eishirō Kite, Rin Hirakoba, Hiroshi Chinen, Liliadent Krauser, Kuranosuke Shiraishi, Senri Chitose and Gin Ishida. Revolutionary Brigade Members of the 2nd string that were the middle school losers during the tiebreaker elimination event. All Revolutionary Brigade members trained under the Drunken Coach in the mountain after their loss where they improved their tennis skills. The Revolutionary Brigade claimed the 2nd court following their return to the main camp. 7 of its 26 members defeated No. 11 - No. 19 from the 1st string. The members are all middle school students, and they include: Echizen Ryoma, Kaoru Kaidō, Inui Sadaharu, Shinji Ibu, Yūta Fuji, Masami Higashikata, Hiyoshi Wakashi, Ryo Shishido, Gakuto Mukahi, Harukaze Kurobane, Genichirō Sanada, Jackal Kuwahara, Zaizen Hikaru, Konjiki Koharu, Hitōji Yūji, Richard Sakata, Kei Tanishi, Yuujirou Kai, and Satoru Kadowaki. Those who are also part of the 1st string are: *Takashi Kawamura (No. 12) *Munehiro Kabaji (No. 13) *Kintarō Tōyama (No. 14) *Masaharu Niō (former No. 15, returned badge looking for a higher number) *Shuichiro Oishi (No. 16) *Renji Yanagi (No. 17) *Kenya Oshitari (No. 18) *Takeshi Momoshiro (No. 19) Category:U-17 Camp